Howzat for an ace catch ... so what!

WHILE in my mid-teens, I spent a lot of time at the Crag Hall Cricket Academy, Carlin How, in north-east Yorkshire. One late summer afternoon, I turned up to find only two older lads at practice — one batting, one bowling. I offered to field and took up position around deep square leg, just in front of the nettles. A hefty swipe by one of the boys, Alan, sent the ball in a high arc and I set off at a sprint towards the point where I judged the ball would reach the ground. After about 25 yards at full pelt, I reached down with my right hand and felt the satisfying thump as the ball hit my palm and my fingers gripped it tightly. I rolled forward then leapt into the air, raising the ball and screaming ‘howzat!’ as loud as I could. Nothing! It was assumed the ball was lost in the nettles, so another one was being used. I was totally ignored. I had just made the best catch I would ever make in my life, and nobody witnessed it. I was devastated. This had irked me for more than 60 years. So if Alan Dale and Barry Lancaster are still around, I would like them to know — ‘I did take that catch!’

Rod Evans, Guisborough, N. Yorks.